RAF Museum volunteers flying high after winning award

The Royal Air Force Museum, in Grahame Park Road, Hendon, congratulated its marine craft team after its success at the London Volunteers in Museums Awards, at the Museum of London, last month.

The team's leader Bill Amos, 82, is a former RAF engineer. After winning the Best Team Contribution category for its work restoring and maintaining boats used by the RAF in the Second World War, Mr Amos said: “We've all got a bit of a conscience about the fact that at the end of the war the boats just disappeared, they were sold off to become houseboats and at that time, none of them was on display to the public.

“They saved a tremendous number of lives and we are motivated by trying to keep those boats in good condition so the air-sea rescue service will never get forgotten about.”

The other members of the winning team are Charles Pearson, Graham Cooper, Nigel Simmons, Terry Lloyd, Bill Sloane, Peter Fitch and Paul Hawes.

Mr Amos explained the team's reasons for volunteering at the museum, and why the win was a great bonus.

He said: “We enjoy it – many of us were in the RAF, the jokes and camaraderie are just like when we were back in service, so it's like reliving our youth.”

East Finchley resident Gwen Kirstein was also highly commended at the ceremony, which took place on June 2, for her long-standing voluntary work at the British Museum. She joined the museum in 1987, when the volunteer programme was in its infancy.

Ms Kirstein said: “You meet all sorts of people, museum curators who know a lot more than me, then people who have come to the museum for the first time, and children. There are some amazing stories to tell children!”

The awards are organised by Renaissance London, a company which aims to work with museums in order to develop a vibrant and sustainable museum sector in London.

Chairman, Professor Jack Lohman, said: “Volunteers are part of the bedrock of our museums. We cannot thank them enough for the work they do.”